Same-Day Transaction Boom Helps Propel the ACH to a $51 Trillion Year

Jim Daly - Digital Transaction News - 2/20/2019

Same-day automated clearing house transactions more than doubled in 2018 and the value of those payments increased 83% in the first full year of same-day ACH debit service, NACHA reported Tuesday. The same-day volumes helped the sprawling ACH network continue its growth streak, with total payments up nearly 7% and the value of those payments increasing by more than 9%.

The Herndon, Va.-based ACH governing body says same-day transactions totaled 177.9 million, up 137% from 2017, with a value of $159.9 billion versus $87.1 billion the year before. The same-day debit transaction count was 79.6 million with a value of $60.7 billion. Same-day credit transactions totaled 98.3 million with a value of $99.2 billion.

To meet growing demand for faster clearing and settlement, NACHA initiated same-day credit transactions in September 2016 followed by same-day debits a year later.

Total ACH volume in 2018 hit 23 billion payments, up 6.9% year-over-year for the highest growth rate since 2008, NACHA reported. Payment value increased 9.5% to $51.2 trillion, marking the sixth consecutive year that values rose by more than $1 trillion.

“The results for 2018 make clear that the ACH network is vibrant and continues to be a vital component of the nation’s economic engine,” said NACHA chief operating officer Jane Larimer in a news release. “With more enhancements to same-day ACH being rolled out this year and next, the experience for businesses and consumers will only get better.”

Among the fastest-growing ACH categories last year were person-to-person payments, up 32.2% year-over-year to 128.7 million transactions valued at $209.6 billion. Internet payments saw transactions rise 14.2% to 5.9 billion with a value of $2.9 trillion. Business-to-business payments increased 9.4% to 3.6 billion transactions with a value of $34.9 trillion.

Direct deposits grew 4.4% over 2017 to 6.8 billion transactions with a value of $9.7 trillion.